Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A Well Hung Pirate:

Get your mind out of the gutter girls!I am talking about being a “Hanger”.That is what we hammock campers call ourselves, a hanger.For me it started a few years ago on a camping/kayaking trip to Pensacola Florida.We were camping in a state park there for a week to fishing from our kayaks.What we did not know was we picked a terrible week to go.For four days it rain like I have never seen rain.The whole campground was flooded and most of our tents were flooded.

Well not mine because I was on what I thought was a terrible camp site.It sloped terribly, so bad that when I pitched my tent my head was 6” above my feet in the tent.This was not good for sleeping but it did keep my tent from flooding.Well after I dug a trench around the tent to allow the water to run around it instead of in it.But it rain so hard I could not leave the tent for 4 days.When I could, I left, I had enough!On the drive home I told myself I would find a better way to camp.

After arriving home I started researching a better way to camp.Not just to get off the wet ground but my old baddy has a hard time sleeping on hard ground anyway.I tried pads and inflatable mattresses but nothing had worked.Then after searching a lot of camping web sites I came across www.hammockforums.net.After reading there for a few weeks I decided to give hammock camping a try.I bought a Hennessy Hammock from a local outdoor sports equipment store.And my first night sleeping in it in my back yard changed my life.I now own about 11 different hammocks.

I won’t try to go into any real depth here since you can read all about them on the Hammock Forums web site, but the quick introduction is these camping hammocks are comfortable, so comfortable that I sleep in one about three nights a week at home.As soon as I build a house, my bed in the house will be a hammock.You can get these hammocks with bug nets and tarps to protect you from the elements.You are hanging above the ground so no bugs can get to you.You don’t have to have clear level ground under you.Heck, I have hung on trees over water!A good hammock can bet set up in about half the time a tent takes and taking it down is even quicker.They also pack smaller and are easier to carry.

Go ahead, visit the Hammock Forums and learn about this hammock camping.You might even see the Riverpirate there.You too can be well hung in just a few days.

Welcome Mates

I started this blog with the intentions of logging some of my fishing adventures though I have no doubt I will blog about other life adventures and thoughts. As I look at 50, I think it is time I started writing some of these adventures down before I forget them. Besides, I love to share my stories, after all that is why we live life right? "For the stories we can tell." (another credit to Jimmy Buffett) I hope you will follow along and maybe even find some of these stories interesting, informative and if nothing else, fun. So welcome, pull up a seat, maybe a good cigar or glass of scotch and join me on a few PIRATE's TALES.